Manufacture of felted material



y 1950 c. P. DE M. PORRITT 2,508,968

MANUFACTURE OF FELTED MATERIAL Filed Nov. 29, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l @QW(94, (a INV NTO R. W 0 BY Wei AGENT May 23, 1950 Filed Nov. 29, 1946 C.P. DE M. PORRITT MANUFACTURE OF FELTED MATERIAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2PatenteclMay 23, 1 950 Cy-riI Philip fle 'Musehamp,loitittfRoehdalefEng- 3 -:land, assignorato-R. R; Whitehead-i8; Brothe'rs-.-B it; shicomr ny Oldham, England, a

.apnncetmnimvember 29, iase'tsefrielyIshmael! increment -member 2 ,112.4as ectiond itubliclawj690,rAugnst:8,:lsIl6 gamut-excitestoher;;25,:;ldi5

' The present invention .-re lates .to improvements or roups of rollersas the case,may be, ora plate andgroupoimollers, the plates .or the twogroups of rollers being "oscillated in .their own planes simultaneouslyin opposite directions.

the unfelted laps or batts are constrained between two plates, one ofwhich is oscillated or otherwise displaced in its own plane, whilst theother remains stationary. In a, further known hardening process, theunfelted laps or batts are passed between a series of nip rolls, therollers on one side rotating about their axes, whilst at the same timeoscillating axially, whilst the other group of rollers on the oppositeside of the lap or batt rotate about stationary axes.

In these latter two cases, that side of the felt in contact with themovable element will receive the maximum amount of fibre disturbancewhich becomes progressively reduced towards the other side.

According to the present invention one or more laps or batts of fibre tobe hardened are constrained between elements on opposite sides, each ofsaid element being movable, but at any one moment of time, one elementwill be stationary whilst the other will be moving. By this means auniform fibre disturbance is obtained throughout the thickness of thelap or batt.

The invention is further described with reference to the accompanyingdiagrammatic drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagram of one known form of hardening machine,

Fig. 2 is a diagram of another known form of hardening machine,

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the method of hardening of felt according tothi invention,

, Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a machine operating according to thisinvention,

Fig. 5 is a corresponding plan view,

- Fig; 6is adiagrammaticview "showing another form-of d v c I i lln htlm we met d.illl i t dad as amm fie l i r a a wa ite tle 9 1;- strainedbetween two plates'I, ,g...or, ,gi;oups oi roll.-

e as he casamay-be .ora ,p1ataand a group o l'rol ers."' plate-51,2 rthewo=-,e 'onips -o i bll tsib in s illa' din tan ollslviinpppos te Iwill be seen "thaflfibrieldisplaeement .w l--be -zer.o

willgof necessitylbasoit, and'il'oose. along its centre. In'theia ranementgoiinigure 2 whereitheltcp bla el alone i oscillated.or.6therw.ise'..d $l a in its .owll'illanewhilst",the emergent-e T4'('or up f r llers) i' ationary; one S de ef th el wil beha 'ened..bulth ffeltwinfb o sliv -is e owand the other si e which ob'v r bulyremainsmitsbriginalicmiqition. I

In "thearr'angement of the present invention, however, showndiagrammatically in Figure 3 where one plate 5 (or group of rollers) ismoving whilst the other plate 6 (or group of rollers) is stationary, andthen the plate 5 is stationary whilst the plate 6 is moving, then itwill be readily appreciated that the fibre movement will be uniformthroughout the lap or batt in that whilst the outer surface of the lapis moving twice the distance of the fibre in the median plane, the fibrelying in the median plane is operated upon for twice the time.

In the machine shown in Figures 4 and 5 soft laps or batts of fibre orfelt to be hardened on storage rolls 1, 8 may be held in supports 9, II)respectively, and fed between top and bottom carrying cloths I I, I2 tobe passed thereby either step by step or continuously and slowly betweenthe pair of plates l3, l4. Instead of a pair of plates I3 and I4, eitherthe top plate I 3 or the bottom plate I4 or both may be in the form of aset of rolls held in a frame. The plate l3 or the ,top group of rollersas the case may be, is adapted to be oscillated in its own plane, whilstthe bottom plate I4 or group of rollers, as the case may be, isstationary and vice versa. This may be effected by means of cams, l5,[6, disposed at the four corners of the plate (as shown in Fig. 5),mounted on intermittently driven shafts I1, I8, respectively, whichshafts may be independently driven or geared together in groups, so thatthe top plate or group of rollers I5 is moving when the bottom plate orgroup of rollers I6 is stationary and vice versa. In the embodimentshown in Figure 5, driving arrangeplace the bottom plate in its ownplane while the top plane I3 is stationary, and vice versa. In aalternately displacing each plate in its own plane in oppositedirections at times only when the other plate is stationary.

3. A machine for hardening laps of fibrous material consisting incombination of a pair of constraining elements spaced in parallelplanes,

simple form, of course, the cams IS, It may be mounted on the samedriving shaft, but one set i of cams 15. may be disposed out of phasewith the other set of cams l6. A

Another arrangement purely by way of example is shown diagrammaticallyin Eig. B where s rotating shaft is has a pair of crank pins 20, 2|

connected respectively to connecting rods 22, 23'

connected to slide links 24, 25, respectively, which have lost motionconnection, being conveniently and means to displace one constrainingelement in its own plane whilst the other constraining element isstationary, and vice versa.

4. A machine for hardening laps of fibrous material consisting incombination of a pair of plates spaced in parallel planes, and means todisplace one plate in its own plane whilst the other plate isstationary, and vice versa.

in the form of stops such as 28. 29 and stops 30,

3|, on the slide links 24, 25 respectively, engaging stops 32, 33,respectively, connected to the plates 26, 21.

It will be noticed that in each case the top plate or set of rollers asthe case may be is moving whilst the bottom plate or set of rollers isat rest and vice versa.

It has been found that by this means an im--' proved felting isobtainable, both as regards effect on the finished felt and as regardstime and energy spent in this process, and in the subsequent milling orfelting processes.

I declare that what I claim is:

1. A method of hardening fibrous material consisting in constraining anumber of laps offib're between a pair of elements in parallel planesand alternately displacing each element in its own plane in oppositedirections at times only when the other element is stationary.

2. A method of hardening fibrous material consisting in constraining anumber of laps of fibre between a pair of plates in parallel planes and5. A machine for hardening laps of fibrous material consisting incombination of a pair of constraining elements spaced in parallel planesto constrain fibrous material between them, conveyor 'means to displacesaid fibrous material progressively between the said constrainingelements, and means to displace one constraining element in its ownplane whilst the'other constraining element is stationary, and viceversa.

CYRlL PHILIP DE MUSCHAMP PORRITT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 124,828 Ladd Mar. 19, 1872470,496 Le Grand Mar. 8, i892 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 58,794Germany Feb. 14, 1891 268,847 Great Britain Apr. 14, 1927 419,230Germany Sept. 24, 1925

1. A METHOD OF HARDENING FIBROUS MATERIAL CONSISTING IN CONSTRAINING ANUMBER OF LAPS OF FIBRE BETWEEN A PAIR OF ELEMENTS IN PARALLEL PLANESAND ALTERNATELY DISPLACING EACH ELEMENT IN ITS OWN PLANE IN OPPOSITEDIRECTIONS AT TIMES ONLY WHEN THE OTHER ELEMENT IS STATIONARY.